NAMIBIA
The cabinet has approved Namibia Oriental Tobacco’s right of leasehold application for a tobacco and maize plantation in Zambezi.
Namibia Oriental Tobacco, which is co-owned by Swapo regional coordinator for Oshikoto, Armas Amukwiyu, had its initial application for the N$14 billion investment rejected in May 2015 by the Zambezi Communal Land Board. The land board later changed its position and recommended to the government that the project, co-owned by Chinese investors, should get the green light. On June 13, 2019, the Cabinet Committee on Trade and Economic Development (CCTED) approved the company’s application. The company already received 10,000 hectares of land at Liselo, on the outskirts of Katima Mulilo. Back in 2015, then at Zambezi regional governor Lawrence Sampofu said, “The communities in Zambezi Region want the project. They are not against it. It’s only one man who objected to the project, but when the Land Board called people in, he never turned up to present his objection.”
Sampofu also said that the project was not only meant to plant tobacco but would also see other crops such as maize and vegetables cultivated. Former Chinese ambassador to Namibia, Xin Shunkang, also said in 2015 that tobacco produced at the mooted plantation in Zambezi Region was not meant for local consumption, but rather for the Chinese market.